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I live on 6th CW lake S of Nevis. Paddle the river from 5th CW lake dam to 4th CW quite often. What section of the river are you going to be paddling?
In general the CW is: --shallow, you may get out and walk in late summer (not a problem...never for very far) --deeper in the spring --has a few bass and small pike --lots of suckers (I paddled over the MN state record Bowfin last summer in 2 ft of water...that baby had to be 36" long). I almost dived in to hogwrastle her. --great place for minnow collectors....shiners and redtails abound --upper lakes are relativly developed, river is relativly undeveloped --outer corners have a few good swimming holes --very scenic on the river, very few visible homes on the upper stretch, although the majority of the banks are private property, then Potlatch land, then State land --loaded with Great Blue Herons, Osprey, Bald Eagles, Whitetail Deer, Beaver, Fisher, Martin, painted and snapper turtles, etc....
--the river from it's conjunction with the Shell on downstream (I always thought the CW should end there...the Shell continue onward....you'll see what I mean if you paddle it)...has lots of designated river camp sites...some accessable by river only...check with the DNR.
--in general, it's alot like the upper Mississippi from Bemidji to Winnie...but less developed. The upper lakes (CW #11 through #1) have some Walleye and loads of panfish, some of the best Crappie fishing around, big Sunnies....they have less pike then you'd think but the pike that are there are quite large.
My favorite upper stretches ..5th CW damn and anywhere on downstream, it's a nice full day trip to go to Huntersville from here ..put in on the Shell River just S of Hubbard on the bridge...paddle to the CW confluence and on to Huntersville, or farther (this is about a 4 hour paddle).
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